Students at Iowa State University experienced their first riot in 1891, when tensions escalated between fraternity and non-affiliated students. Through the 1920s, much unrest could be attributed to athletic rivalries with Drake, but in 1936, students held demonstrations when the Supreme Court declared the agricultural Adjustment Administration as unconstitutional. Then, in 1953, after the Homecoming game, students started another riot, demanding that the college shut down on Monday in reverence for the Iowa State victory over Missouri.



Also during the 1950s and 1960’s, students blew up the dam on Lake La Verne, went on “panty raids” at the women’s dormitories, protested curfew laws in Ames, left cherry bombs on the football field, and experienced yet another sports-related riot after a basketball game against Kansas.



By the end of the 1960s, and through the 1980s, student protest began to center around the Vietnam conflict and issues related to the government and the military. Students demonstrated against nuclear war, the draft, the arms race, U.S. military involvement abroad, and student recruitment by the CIA.